Many people find that a foot massage can relieve stress and promote a feeling of relaxation. It is believed that massaging the foot targets other regions of the body, stimulating internal organs and improving circulation. Why does a foot massage feel so good? The answer may lie in reflexology, a zone therapy that seeks to correct imbalances in the body by stimulating corresponding areas of the foot. For example, it is believed that proper stimulation of the foot can, among other benefits, enhance circulation and generally reduce fatigue in the legs and lower back. However, whatever the source or mechanism of the benefits from foot massages, this popular therapy has provided comfort and energy to many people over the years.
Massaging sandals, generally sandals having a footpad with a number of upright elastic projections or nodules positioned to engage the bottom surface of the wearer's foot, are known in the art. Examples of massaging sandals are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,113 to Birkenstock, U.S. Pat. No. 3,757,774 to Hatuno, U.S. Pat. No. 4,095,353 to Foldes and U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,056 to Menghi et al.
Typically, prior art massaging sandals are formed from a unitary footpad with one or more straps that may or may not be unitarily formed with the footpad. While prior art massaging sandals have been found effective for many users, certain disadvantages may be noted from such prior art constructions. For example, the footpad massaging nodules may be too hard and/or too rigid to be comfortable to the user. It will be appreciated that a wearer using a massaging sandal intermittently supports their entire weight on the footbed nodules. Therefore, if the nodules are too hard, the experience may cause discomfort to the wearer, especially to a new wearer who is not accustomed to the sandals. To compensate for such hardness the nodules may be made too large and/or flat to provide the desired massaging stimulation. Alternatively, if a softer, more resilient material is used for the sandal footbed in order to optimized the performance of the massaging nodules, the sandal may exhibit wear too rapidly.
As alluded to above, a wearer's foot may initially be overly sensitive to the pressures imposed by the pliable nodules of a massaging sandal. After a wearer's foot becomes more accustomed and desensitized to the massaging actions of the nodules, it may be preferable to have less pliability in the footbed, to increase the intensity of the massaging action.
The present invention overcomes the disadvantages associated with many prior art massaging sandals.